In a public display of anger, protesters demonstrate in Parliament Square against antisemitism in the Labour party.
Photograph: Matthew Chattle/Rex/Shutterstock

In a row of Georgian houses in north London, a small museum charts the history of Jews in Britain. Running through the story, from the first arrivals in 1066 through to the 20th-century horrors of the Holocaust, is a thread of persecution and prejudice.

Within hours, a community boycott was threatened. Stephen Pollard, editor of the Jewish Chronicle, tweeted: “Can’t think of a time when I have had so many emails and texts in so short a time from people all saying the same thing: if @JewishMuseumLDN hosts Corbyn next week they will never set foot in it again.”

Stephen Pollard (@stephenpollard)

Can't think of a time when I have had so many emails and texts in so short a time from people all saying the same thing: if @JewishMuseumLDN hosts Corbyn next week they will never set foot in it again https://t.co/4dG6zs4Agp

By Friday morning, the Jewish Museum had issued a terse statement. “There are no plans for a Labour party event to take place at the museum,” it said. A few visitors toured the museum, but no one was available to expand on the single sentence.

The swift and uncompromising response is indicative of a new assertiveness within the community, according to some: a willingness to proclaim religious and cultural identity, and not just stand firm in the face of antisemitism but take the fight to its perpetrators and tacit defenders. This shift was noted in an article in the Atlantic last week by journalist and author Ben Judah, in a piece headlined “British Jews Find Their Voice”. For decades, he said, “my community has been quiet and watchful, slow to place itself in the public eye”. Now British Jews were “publicly furious, outraged, venting their fear and disgust as they faced down what might well be Britain’s next government … Where had this newfound pugnacity come from?”

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According to Raymond Simonson, the chief executive of JW3, a Jewish community and cultural centre in north London, it stems from “insult upon insult” compounded over the past two years as the Labour leadership has failed to tackle antisemitism.

“When you take a bottle of fizzy drink and shake it again and again, at some point it will explode. What we’re seeing now is that explosion,” he said.

“People used to express their anger [about antisemitism] around the Shabbat dinner table. Now they’re saying it publicly, and of course it’s being amplified on social media.” Jews needed to “dial up the volume, to be out, loud and proud”, he said.

However, the new willingness of British Jews to assert their identity does not mean they speak with one voice. Some rebut claims that a Corbyn-led government would pose an “existential threat”; others have pointed to continuing disagreement among British Jews over Israel and its action. A few have defended Corbyn.

“More Jewish people share a similar view on this issue than on anything else. But there are arguments going on. We’re not a homogenous community,” said Simonson.

Pollard said British Jews were finally emulating their American counterparts. “American Jews had always been out and proud. But British Jews traditionally did things behind the scenes. If something was worrying the community, representations were made behind closed doors. That was the way we did things.”

The change has been evident in the Jewish Chronicle. A generation ago, it recorded significant events and individual achievements in a restrained manner. Now the JC and its competitor Jewish News have led the charge with pugnacious reporting on antisemitism in the Labour party. “The only complaint is that we’re not being aggressive enough,” said Pollard.

According to Keith Kahn-Harris, co-author of Turbulent Times: The British Jewish Community Today, the new assertiveness began to emerge in the 1990s. “Historically, the [Jewish] establishment counselled that Jews should see themselves as loyal British citizens, and treat their Jewishness as a private matter,” he said. “This became anachronistic as other minorities grew more assertive about their rights while also celebrating their heritage.”

The comedian David Baddiel said the new mood could not be separated from the rise of identity politics. “Every ethnicity and sexuality has found a way of saying they need to be heard and respected. In a culture where everyone has a voice, Jews have been left out.” That was now changing.

The new voice of British Jews has been amplified – and perhaps distorted – by social media. “The rhetoric of the antisemitism row mirrors the populism and demagoguery, the loose deployment of catastrophic language, that has taken over Britain,” wrote Judah.

Kahn-Harris said exchanges on social media were “constantly upping the ante. If this creates a situation where there can be no reconciliation – and it may be that reconciliation is not possible – then we are left in a dangerous place.”